Tuesday, May 21, 2013

For this recipe you don't need a specially made dough laden with fats. You can use regular roti ( flat bread) dough that's in your fridge. It is the technique that's very important. I have given a step by step guide with pictures to help you nail a perfect Lachcha Paratha with very little oil/ ghee(clarified butter) . I have used oil.

Ingredients: gives 2 parathas

Whole wheat dough 200 gms

Oil 2tsp

Oil/ ghee.(clarified butter) 4 tsp

Method :

Heat a non stick girdle.

Take 80-100 gms dough and shape it into a ball.

Press it lightly and roll it in flour.

Using a rolling pin roll it into an 8" disc.

Apply 1/2 +1/4tsp oil on half of the disk .

On the other half sprinkle two large pinches of dry flour.

Carefully lift the disk from the oiled end and place it on the floured surface.

Press it lightly. You now have a semi circular disk.

Again on one half apply 1/4 tsp oil and on the other half sprinkle a large pinch of flour.

Fold it in similar manner. Now you have a long band of dough.

Lift both the ends and fold it to form a roll, tuck the loose end in the bottom.

Roll it in flour and press lightly.

Roll it out into an 8" disk.

Place it on the hot girdle.

Flip it to other side once you see golden spots.

Apply 1 tsp oil / ghee and press it lightly with a spatula.

Flip it over and apply oil .

Remove from girdle when slightly dark golden spots appear on both sides.

This curry gives the humble Parwal a very tasty avatar. Many years ago it was shared by a Bengali Friend of mine . She had told me that there are certain occasions when Bengalis don't eat even onion - garlic, on those days she makes these. It's a very tasty preparation and a good option for people who prefer Satvik food.

Ingredients : serves 4

Parwal. 250 gms

Potato 150 gms. ( 2 med)

Tomato 250 gms ( 3 med)

Green chilly 1/2

Oil 1 tbsp+1 tsp

Bay leaf 1

Cloves. 2

Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

Coconut 1/4 cup ( grated)

Ginger paste 1 tsp

Red chilly pd 1 tsp

Cumin pd 1 tsp

Coriander pd 1 tsp

Turmeric pd 1/2 tsp

Garam masala pd 1/4 tsp

Sugar 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Water 1 cup

Chopped coriander 1 tbsp

Method :

Wash and peel parwal and potatoes.

Cut parwal into half lengthwise.

If the seeds are even slightly hard remove them and keep them aside.

Now cut each half of parwal into 3 or 4 pieces depending on the length, so each parwal gives you 6-8 cubes.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Till a few months back I could not even dream of baking bread. The thought also never crossed my mind. Slowly I ventured into this " yeasted" zone.

I started with pizza base, then successfully moved on to Foccaccia .

After several trials and tribulations I could make a perfect white bread.

Then stated all the variations. Now the situation at home is that nobody wants to eat store bought bread. So today I'll help you make stuffed buns.

Amazingly soft and delicious buns. They are not difficult to make. Just follow the instructions carefully.

Read the recipe and the notes several times before starting. I have tweaked the original recipe a little. You find the original recipe here

Two most important things in bread making are: the temperature of water in which you will be activating the yeast. Water should be just warm, approx. 48 to 54 degrees Celsius .

Second is kneading. You have to knead it for 10. -15 minutes for the gluten to develop, which helps the buns or any bread for that matter to rise.

Ingredients : for stuffing

Oil 2 tsp

Black cumin 1/2 tsp

Crushed Garlic 1 tsp

Onion chopped 1/2 cup

Potatoes 2 small (150gms) very finely cubed

Bell pepper. 1/ 2 cup very finely cubed

Frozen Corn 1/2 cup , ( thawed)

Cheddar cheese 1/2 cup grated

Green chilly 1/2 finely chopped

Salt to taste

Chilly flake 1 tsp

Method

Heat oil in a pan.

Crackle black cumin.

Add garlic , green chilly and onion .

Sauté till onions turn pink and soft.

Now add peppers, potato and corn and sauté for a couple of minutes.

The mixture should be absolutely dry at this stage.

Remove from fire, add chilly flakes and cheese.

Taste and add salt accordingly.

Keep it aside to cool completely.

Ingredients: For buns

Milk. 1 cup

Butter 1 tbsp

Sugar. 1 tbsp

Salt 1 1/4 tsp

Warm water. 1/4 cup

Active dry yeast 2 1/4 tsp

All Purpose Flour 3 1/2 cup approximately.

Oil for brushing

Milk for brushing

Method :

Boil milk in a saucepan. Remove it from fire .

Add butter and salt to it. Mix well so that butter melts completely. Pour it into a large bowl and let it cool down till it is just warm to touch. It should not be hot when you add puffed up yeast to it coz that will kill the yeast.

Take warm water in a small bowl. Dip your finger in it, it should feel just warm. If water is hot it will kill the yeast.

Add sugar to it and stir.

Now sprinkle yeast over it and let it sit for 10 min, till yeast balloons up.

Once milk butter mixture is just warm add the puffed up yeast to it.

Now start adding flour , one cup at a time , mixing lightly( no kneading right now), till you no longer can stir it with a wooden spoon .

Turn the dough onto a floured surface . at this point the flour will be very sticky. Add more flour little by little and start kneading it.,adding till the dough is soft but not sticky.

Care should be taken to not add too much flour. I used 2 tbsp flour less than mentioned above.

There will be a slight variation in the total amount of flour used because of the quality of the flour and weather conditions.

Now knead till the dough is elastic and soft like baby's bottom.

If kneading by hand then knead for 10-12 minutes.

Now grease a large bowl and put the ready dough into the bowl and turn the dough over so as to grease it from all sides. Cover with a cling film and let it sit un disturbed in a warm and draft free place till it doubles in size, anywhere between an hour to hour and a half depending on the temperature of your kitchen .

To check if the dough has risen enough, push your finger , into the dough upto your second knuckle. If the indention remains when you remove your finger then it is ready else let it rise for some more time.

Once the dough has doubled, turn it onto a floured surface and punch it and knead till you release all the air trapped in it.

Divide the dough into 10 equal parts and shape each into a ball.

Flatten one ball and carefully place a table spoon of the filling . Pull up the sides and seal properly, otherwise the stuffing will seep out during baking.

Repeat the process with the remaining balls.

Place them , sealed side down , 2" apart on a tray greased and lined with parchment paper or silicon mat.

Brush them with oil , loosely cover them with cling film and leave them un disturbed for second rise, until they double in size. Approximately 25 - 35 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius . Brush the buns with milk and bake for 30-35 min or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and place them on a wire rack. Brush with butter or olive oil for soft crust. Allow the to cool slightly before eating.

Note : if your yeast does not ballon up then don't proceed further. Throw away the yeast and start again.

Remember : hot liquid and too much salt kills yeast.

Yeast feeds on sugar to grow.

With the same recipe you can alsomake plain buns .

Just skip the stuffing step. Rest of the procedure remains the same.

You can make any stuffing , just remember that the stuffing should be dry.

Note : add flavouring of your choice at step 5 above. Some options based on inputs from friends are:Cocoa pd to make chocolate ice cream : 1 tbsp or more to get that rich dark color/you can also add melted chocolate

Bitter gourd or Karela is not everyone's favourite. But everyone in my family just loves them. I remember whenever I made fried and crispy bitter gourd my son ( who was very small then) would always complain why I had made such less quantity.

I generally make stuffed bitter gourd using onion as the base. Few years back my sister made these when I was visiting her. Since then I am hooked on to this recipe. The only prerequisite is raw mango. I freeze grated raw mango to use when not in season for various dishes and sauces.

Ingredients:

Bitter gourd 350gms

Mustard oil 2tbsp

Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Fennel seeds 1 tsp

Vinegar. 1 tbsp

Stuffing:

Boiled potato. 1 cup (grated)

Red chilly pd. 1 tsp

Grated raw mango. 1 tbsp

Fennel pd 2 tsp

Coriander pd. 1 tsp

Garam masala 1/4tsp

Salt. To taste

Sugar 2 tsp

ginger paste 1 tsp

Method:

Wash and peel bitter gourd.

Slit them open. If they are too long cut them into 2 or 3 pieces.

Rub salt on them.

Boil water in a pan. Add 1 tbsp of vinegar to it. Boil bitter gourd in this water till tender.

Drain in a colander. Let them cool.

Lightly squeeze them to remove excess water.

Check the seeds, if they are too hard remove them.

Mix all the ingredients under filling.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

Fill this stuffing in bitter gourd.

Heat oil in a non stick pan.

Crackle mustard seeds and fennel seeds.

Now carefully place the stuffed bitter gourd in the pan in a single layer.

Cook on medium to high till they are brown on all sides.

Turn them carefully in between so that they brown uniformly on all sides.